A Dozen Read-Throughs and Still Going Strong: Fluency and ... · Still Going Strong: Fluency and Content Knowledge via ... choral reading, ... • Provides practice in public speaking

A Dozen Read-Throughs and Still Going Strong:

Fluency and Content Knowledge via

International Reading Association 50th Annual Convention • San Antonio, Texas • May, 2005

Presenter: Katherine Scraper • www.edwriter.com

Reader’s Theater

Table of Contents

Using Reader’s Theater for Fluency Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Instructional Benefits of Reader’s Theater . . . . . 4

Voice Inflection Mini-Lesson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Sample 5-Day Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–7

Tips, Tips, and More Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8–10

Writing Your Own Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Continents and Oceans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Reader's Theater Assessment Tool . . . . . . . . . . 13

For Further Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Recommended Resource for

Reader's Theater Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

International Reading Association

Using Reader’s Theater for Fluency InstructionPut Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for TeachingChildren to Read is the groundbreaking document published bythe U.S. Department of Education in 2001. It highlights the importance of effective instruction in phonemic awareness,phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. Suggestedmethodologies for fluency instruction include student-adultreading, choral reading, tape-assisted reading, partner reading,and Reader's Theater. Page 29 reads:

The key word is “rehearse.” Students who normally resist readinga passage more than once WILLINGLY read it through a dozentimes or more, boosting decoding and word recognition, fluency,vocabulary, comprehension, content knowledge, and confidence.

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”The rehearsal is the essenceof Reader’s Theater. Here iswhere students get practicebecoming fluent oral readers.They must understand thestory before they can usetheir voices to convey thatinterpretation to others.Repeated readings in a Reader’s Theater setting arenot tedious, but fun.

Lois Walker, Author of Reader’s Theater in theElementary Classroom, www.loiswalker.com.

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“In reader’s theater, students rehearse and perform a playfor peers or others. They read from scripts derived frombooks that are rich in dialogue. Students play characterswho speak lines or a narrator who shares necessary background information. Reader's theater provides readers with a legitimate reason to reread text and to practice fluency. Reader’s theater also promotes cooperative interaction with peers and makes the reading task appealing.

Fluency is HOT . . . and should be HOT!

”“

The December/January edition of Reading Today(International ReadingAssociation) includes theannual “What's Hot/What'sNot” feature. This year's survey reads:

Instructional Benefits of Reader’s Theater:• Boosts listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills• Increases vocabulary• Extends attention span • Enhances attributes of fluency, such as phrasing, reading rate,

inflection, intonation, and pause• Introduces students to a variety of literature• Provides opportunities to reflect on texts• Enables students to analyze character traits and literary

elements• Calls attention to author's meaning and purpose• Provides enjoyable familiar re-reading with a purpose• Honors a variety of ability levels, intelligences, and

learning styles• Motivates reluctant readers• Enhances confidence in and enjoyment of reading• Develops interpersonal, social, and collaborative skills• Capitalizes on children's natural instincts for imagination and

dramatic play• Provides practice in public speaking in a supportive environment• Enhances content-area learning, including facts, ideas,

and concepts• Addresses national, state, and district learning standards• Provides both formal and informal assessment data


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Too often, children read astory and only understand itat its most superficial literallevel. With Reader's Theater,they're not just reading astory, they're living it.

Judy Freeman, author of Books Kids Will Sit StillFor, judyreadsbooks.com. ”

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Voice Inflection Mini-Lesson

Objective Students will learn that emphasizing one word over another canchange the meaning of a sentence.

Materials Chalkboard, chart paper, or overhead projector; writing instrument

Procedure Display the following sentence: I didn't say Minerva stole myblue pen.

Ask students to silently read the sentence to themselves andthink about its meaning. Then have them share their ideas with the class utilizing think-pair-share.

Point to the first word. Have students chorally read the sentence emphasizing the word I: I didn't say Minerva stole myblue pen. Discuss the “new” meaning of the sentence. (Someoneelse said it.)

Continue the process with each word, as follows:

In pairs or teams, have students create their own sentences in which stressing different words changes the meaning of the sentence. Have students present the sentences to the class.

Adapted from Voice Inflection by Richard Swallow.

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I didn't say Minerva stole my blue pen. (I strongly deny saying that.)

I didn't say Minerva stole my blue pen. (I implied it.)

I didn't say Minerva stole my blue pen. (I said someone else stole it.)

I didn't say Minerva stole my blue pen. (Minerva did something else with it.)

I didn't say Minerva stole my blue pen. (She stole someone else's blue pen.)

I didn't say Minerva stole my blue pen. (She stole one of another color.)

I didn't say Minerva stole my blue pen. (She stole a different blue item.)

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Sample 5-Day Process

• Give each student a copy of the script.• Introduce the title, author, setting, and characters. • Provide any needed background information on the topic.• Display, pronounce, and define difficult vocabulary words.• Ask students to make predictions about the text.• Read aloud the entire script as students follow along. Model

fluent expression.• Discuss the text and confirm or revise predictions. Allow students

to connect text ideas to their prior knowledge, to other textsthey have heard or read, and to their own experiences.

• Ask students for other words to add to the vocabulary list.• Reread tricky parts and have students follow along and

then echo.

• Review vocabulary words.• Provide a brief mini-lesson on one aspect of fluency.• Have the class chorally read the entire script with you.• Assign parts. Make sure students understand that the number of

lines their characters have is less important than the expressionthey bring to the lines.

• Explain and model behavior expectations for rehearsal. • Have characters practice independently as you circulate around

the room helping with pronunciation, expression, and reading rate.• Have characters rehearse their parts with partners and get

feedback• Have each character read his or her part for you. Give tips for

fine-tuning.

• Review the criteria on the Reader's Theater Assessment Tool toremind students of the ideals they are working toward.

• Have a full read-through with “side-coaching,” in which you interject specific requests to the character (not the student), suchas, “Frog, please read that line once again as if you're frightened,”or “This is the climax . . . all soldiers get ready to talk a bit faster.”

• Invite readers to give one another positive feedback and suggestions using character names.

• Decide on a staging area and draw a diagram with circles forstools, X's for readers, and arrows to show movement. Practiceentrances and exits.

• Decide on any needed performance items, such as nametags or simple props. Allow time for students to gather and prepare them.


Day One

Day Two

Day Three

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• Remind students of behavior and performance expectations.• Conduct a full dress rehearsal.• Debrief as needed.

• Perform the play for classmates, other classes, parents, staff members, administrators, or other guests. Videotape if possible.

• Celebrate!

• Meet with students in individual conferences and togethercomplete the Reader's Theater Assessment Tool.

• Have students write about their experience in a reflection journal.

• Watch the video and have students set personal or group goalsfor their next performance.

• Extend students' thinking by having them suggest alternatetitles for the story, write new endings, or add additional characters or scenes.

• Analyze the text, utilizing graphic organizers, such as story maps, Venn diagrams, character trait lists, cause-and-effectcharts, or time lines.

• Pull out words to analyze for word families, prefixes and suffixes, or synonyms and antonyms.

• Conduct further research on the script topic.• Discuss an issue addressed in the script.• Invite students to illustrate their scripts and compile them in

folders or binders.• Invite students to take their scripts home to read to their

families.• Conduct running records of students' independent reading to

guide your decision for future script selection.

Day Four

Day Five

Follow-Up Activities


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Tips, Tips, and More Tips• Assign multiple small roles to one student.• Have two or more students read the same part.• Convert one role into two or more characters.• Divide narration between two or more students.• Assign a separate narrator to each character.• Convert some narration into character dialogue.• Cut or add characters and dialogue.• Have some students serve as announcers to introduce the

play and characters.• Add music so some students can sing rather than speak.• Change character names to accommodate gender.• Have different small groups work on the same script or on

different scripts.• Provide non-speaking support roles, such as prop manager,

stage designer, dialogue coach, or sound effect coordinator.• Utilize flexible grouping.

• Start with short, fun scripts in which speakers don't have toomany lines all at once.

• Be sure each participant has his or her own copy of the script.• Have students highlight their parts, mark pauses with slash marks,

underline words that need to be emphasized, and use the scriptmargins to make notes about any needed gestures or movements.

• Discourage students from memorizing their parts so they can utilize reading interpretation skills rather than simply saying the words.

• The script may be placed in a looseleaf notebook or in a foldermade of black construction paper.

• Have students hold their scripts in one hand only, or have musicstands available to allow actors to gesture more freely. Heldscripts should be between waist and chest level.

• Have students walk on stage, wait for the signal, and then opentheir scripts all at the same time.

• Students can stand in a line or a semi-circle or sit on chairs orstools. Depending on the storyline, some might stand and somemight sit.

• In “pure” Reader's Theater, readers don't actually look at oneanother but speak to a point just over the audience's head, looking up from their scripts about half the time. However, youcan make the decision to have the readers interact with eachother as much or as little as you like. (The narrator always facesthe audience.)

To match scripts to the number of studentsin your class . . .

To support participants . . .

While performing . . .

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• If entrances and exits are needed, students can enter from the side or from the audience. Or, they can enter and exit symbolically by facing or turning their backs to the audience or by standing or sitting.

• To signal scene changes, readers can briefly “freeze” or turntheir backs to the audience. Other techniques are flicking thelights, ringing a bell, or playing a short music excerpt.

• Encourage students to create unique voices, “ham it up,” andproject humor into their roles when appropriate. The more funthey have, the more fun the audience will have. Readers canalso signal the audience to join in on oft-repeated phrases.

• Remind students to use facial expressions and body language aswell as their voices to depict emotion.

• Have the final reader or readers say the last three words in thescript slowly and with rhythm, such as h-a-p-p-i-l-y, e-v-e-r, a-f-t-e-r or n-e-v-e-r, s-e-e-n, a-g-a-i-n to signal that the show isover. Then have the characters “freeze,” close their scripts, facethe audience, and bow.

• No costumes, props, make-up, sets, or scenery are needed—butany or all may be used. Just be sure they don't detract from thereading itself, because part of the fun of Reader's Theater is theopportunity for the audience to create their own mental imagesof the story.

• Encourage students to transform everyday objects into props.For example, a cardboard tube can be a telescope and a stoolcan be a king's throne.

• One item, such as a hat, can suggest an entire costume. Onebackground item, such as a star, can suggest an entire setting.

• Simple actions can be used, such as walking or “flying” in place,pretending to pull a heavy object, or looking up into a tree ordown at a ladybug.

• Characters can make name tags from posterboard squares andwear them on a string around the necks. (Keep these with thescripts for future use.)

• If the audience laughs, stopspeaking until they can hear you again.

• If someone talks in the audience,don't pay attention.

• If someone walks into the room,don't look.

• If you make a mistake, pretend itwas right.

• If you drop something, leave it until the audience is lookingelsewhere.

• If someone forgets to read, see if you can read the part instead,make something up, or just skipover it—but don't whisper to the reader.

• If readers “fall on their rear ends,”pretend they didn't.

Aaron Shepard, author of Readers On Stage, aaronshep.com.

To enhance the performance . . .

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• script—the selection that is read• rehearse—to practice reading the script• cast—the characters who read the script• understudy—a person who practices another character's part in

order to substitute if needed • stage—the location where the script is performed• offstage—any area that is not the stage• upstage—away from the audience• downstage—toward the audience• stage left—to the reader's left on stage (not the audience's)• stage right—to the reader's right on stage (not the audience's)• BTA—“back to audience”• dress rehearsal—the last practice before the script is

performed

• Adapt books into “call-and-response” scripts. For example, inGreen Eggs and Ham, you can be Sam and the students canchorally read the other character's part.

• Select scripts in which words and phrases are repeated often.• Assign an English-language learner and a peer model to the

same part.• Spend more time practicing chorally. • Retype the script, using an enlarged font and double-spacing.

Make sure a character's speech doesn't overlap onto the nextpage.

• Exaggerate facial expressions, gestures, and movements toenhance meaning.

• Utilize pictures and props to reinforce vocabulary.• Coordinate scripts with current content-area topics so students

will have adequate background knowledge.• Invite students to retell the story in their own words.• Pay special attention to multiple-meaning words or figures of

speech.

Have students create invitations, flyers, or advertising posters fortheir upcoming performances. Have them design tickets, writearticles for the school or community newspaper, and write theirown scripts.

Teach students to say . . .

To make Reader's Theateraccessible forEnglish-languagelearners or students with special needs . . .

To integrate writingwith Reader'sTheater . . .

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Writing Your Own ScriptsSample Adaptable Selections:• Fables by Arnold Lobel• Rosie and Michael by Judith Viorst• Yo! Yes? by Chris Raschka• Hey, Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose• Mouse TV by Matt Novak• Martha Walks the Dog by Susan Meddaugh• Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin• The Web Files by Margie Palatini• Get Well, Good Knight by Shelley Moore• Poppleton by Cynthia Rylant • Frog and Toad Stories by Arnold Lobel• Scenes from the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling • Poems by Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky • Biographies• Folktales, fairy tales, tall tales, and legends• Excerpts from math, science, and social studies textbooks

Student Activity• Photocopy a scene or selection that can be read in five

minutes or less. Watch the reading level but allow for some newvocabulary words.

• Assign a highlighter color to each character. Have students mark dialogue accordingly, crossing out tag lines. The remaining textis then assigned to one or more narrators.

• Encourage students to cut long descriptions or minor charactersor scenes, as long as everyone in the group agrees. Invite themto add additional lines if needed to fill out the story line.

• Allow time for students to rehearse and perform the adaptedscript.

Benefits • Students must analyze characters, setting, and plot.• Students have an opportunity to integrate reading, writing,

and thinking skills.

When you write your own scripts,add a summary that includes:*• Genre • Number of readers• Theme • Suggested ages or reading levels• Setting • Approximate performance time

• Brief description of story

*Aaron Shepard

Normally young readers can have a one-page story ready fortryout in about a quarter hour,with practically no adult help.With adult help, it can take quite a bit longer.Aaron Shepard

Tips For Adapting Existing Materials:• Select materials with tight

plots, clear endings, suspense,interesting characters, lively dialogue, and appealing themes.

• Consider what it would take tochange a book into a play as you transform the textinto a script.

• Eliminate phrases or passageswhen necessary for a more dramatic effect.

• Avoid adding extensive narrationor background information.

Elizabeth Poe, West Virginia University, Reading Today,May, 2004.

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Continents and OceansEarth has seven large bodies of land.How many?Seven!What are they called?They're called continents!What are their names?We know!North America!South America!Europe!Asia!Africa!Australia!Antarctica!That's right! Earth has four large bodies of water, too.How many?Four!What are they called?They're called oceans!What are their names?We know!Atlantic Ocean!Pacific Ocean!Indian Ocean!Arctic Ocean!That's right!That's right!THAT'S RIGHT!

The End

#1:#2:#1:#3:#1:#4:

#5-#11:#5:#6:#7:#8:#9:

#10:#11:#1:

#2:#1:#3:#1:#4:

#5-#8:#5:#6:#7:#8:#1:

#2-#4:#9-#11:

Adapted from pages 176–177 of People And Neighborhoods, a Macmillan, Inc. first-grade social studies textbook, 1985.

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Reader's Theater Assessment Tool

Skill Bravo! Take Star Let’s A Bow Potential Rehearse

Shows leadership while planning and rehearsingWorks as a team member by supporting other readersSpeaks confidently, audibly, clearly, and expressivelyKeeps audience's attention with tone, expression, and volume of voiceDemonstrates an understanding of the character's emotions, moods, actions, and point of viewReads in a style that reinforces the drama or humor of the story situationAdjusts pitch, stress, intonation, phrasing, and pacing to achieve desired meaningEffectively uses facial expressions, body language, gestures, and movement Picks up cues without hesitation

Listens to and reacts appropriately to other characters’ lines and actionsStays in character even when not reading linesDoesn't fidget, look around, or giggle during performanceEffectively transitions between scenes

Effectively moves on and off stage as neededHandles unexpected circumstances without getting ruffledPuts on a performance that would make the script's author smile

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For Further Information . . .• March 2005: “Fluency: Bridge between Decoding and Reading

Comprehension” by John J. Pikulski and David J. Chard• December 2004/January 2005: “Curriculum-Based Reader’s

Theater: Setting the Stage for Reading and Retention” by Rosalind M. Flynn

• December 2004/January 2005: “Helping Students Become Accurate, Expressive Readers: Fluency Instruction for SmallGroups” by Melanie Kuhn

• October 2004: “A Focus on Fluency: How One Teacher Incorporated Fluency with Her Reading Curriculum” by LorraineWiebe Griffith and Timothy V. Rasinski

• March 2003: “Integrating Literacy and Science in the Classroom:From Eco-Mysteries to Reader’s Theater” by Amelia E. El-Hindi

• November 2002: “ ‘I Thought about It All Night’: Reader’sTheater for Reading Fluency and Motivation” by Jo Worthy and Kathryn Prater

• December 1998/January 1999: “ ‘I Never Thought I Could Be aStar’: A Reader’s Theater Ticket to Fluency” by Miriam Martinez,Nancy L. Roser, and Susan Strecker

Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for TeachingChildren to Read (National Institute for Literacy, 2001)

Google “Reader's Theater”

The ReadingTeacher(International ReadingAssociation)

Book

Worldwide Web

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Recommended Resource for Reader's Theater ScriptsBenchmark Education Company629 Fifth AvenuePelham, NY 108031-877-236-2465www.benchmarkeducation.com

Each script:• Is leveled (F–U, 9–50, Grades 1–5) • Includes a word count, glossary, and synopsis • Addresses National Content Standards in either math,

science, or social studies• Includes a teacher's guide with background topic and

vocabulary information, a recommended instructional sequence, staging and performance suggestions, follow-up questions, literacy and content extensions, ELL support, andrelated resources

This set of scripts earned a Learning Magazine 2005Teachers’ Choice ™ Award for supplemental materials. You can order a free leveled script and teacher's guide at:

www.benchmarkeducation.com/rt.html.


Like storytelling, reader's theater can create images bysuggestion that could never be portrayed realisticallyon stage. Space and time can be shrunk or stretched,fantastic worlds can be created, marvelous journeyscan be enacted. Reader's theater frees the performersand the audience from the physical limitations ofconventional theater, letting the imagination soar . . .There ARE rules in reader's theater, but luckily there isno one to enforce them.

Aaron Shepard

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Documents

A Dozen Read-Throughs and Still Going Strong: Fluency and ... · Still Going Strong: Fluency and Content Knowledge via ... choral reading, ... • Provides practice in public speaking